Cy Young Profile: Greg Maddux, 1995

Pitcher, Atlanta Braves

Age:  29 (April 14)

3^rd season with Braves

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’0”    Weight: 170 

Prior to 1995:

Maddux was born in Texas, where his father was stationed in the Air Force at the time. Growing up in several different locations due to his father’s postings, Maddux played football and basketball as well as baseball during his youth. Later his father transferred to Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas where he retired from the USAF and settled down. Maddux began to concentrate on his pitching at Valley High School. Not possessed of overwhelming speed, he concentrated on developing his control, which came to serve him well. Chosen by the Chicago Cubs in the second round of the 1984 amateur draft, Maddux passed up on college to accept a bonus contract from the Cubs. Initially assigned to Pikeville of the Rookie-level Appalachian League, he appeared in 14 games (12 of them starts) and produced a 6-2 record with a 2.63 ERA and 62 strikeouts over 85.2 innings. With Peoria of the Class A Midwest League in 1985 he was 13-9 with a 3.19 ERA and 125 strikeouts. Maddux jumped from Class AA to AAA in 1986 and was a combined 14-4 with a 2.91 ERA, earning a September call-up to the Cubs. Back in Class AAA with Iowa of the American Association in 1987 he was soon recalled to the Cubs where he was a rocky 6-14 with a 5.61 ERA. A strong first half in his breakout season of 1988 garnered Maddux his first All-Star selection on the way to a record of 18-8 with a 3.18 ERA. He started slower in 1989 but finished at 19-12 with a 2.95 ERA, placing third in NL Cy Young Award voting. The Cubs won the NL East and Maddux lost his only NLCS decision in his first taste of postseason action. He was a .500 pitcher at 15-15 with a fourth-place club in 1990, registering a 3.46 ERA and 144 strikeouts. Maddux topped the NL with 263 innings pitched in 1991 as he compiled a 15-11 record with a 3.35 ERA and 198 strikeouts. With command of a large repertoire of pitches, including a fastball, circle changeup, slider, sinker, and curve, Maddux was known for his intelligent and fearless approach to pitching, in which he would throw any pitch in any situation. He was the NL Cy Young recipient in 1992 after posting a 20-11 record with a 2.18 ERA, again leading the circuit in innings pitched with 268. In addition, he recorded 199 strikeouts. A highly sought free agent following his Cy Young Award-winning season, Maddux turned down a large contract offer that would have kept him with the Cubs and signed with the Braves for $28 million. He also resisted a larger offer from the Yankees to go to Atlanta. In 1993 he stepped into a solid pitching rotation that already included LHP Tom Glavine, RHP John Smoltz, and LHP Steve Avery. The Braves were coming off back-to-back pennants and won the NL West in ’93 with Maddux contributing a 20-10 record with a league-leading 2.36 ERA and 267 innings pitched, along with 197 strikeouts. He received his second NL Cy Young Award. An excellent fielding pitcher, he also won his fourth consecutive Gold Glove. He was 1-1 in the NLCS loss to Philadelphia. Maddux won another Cy Young Award following the strike-shortened 1994 season when he went 16-6 with a 1.56 ERA. 10 complete games, and 3 shutouts.

1995 Season Summary

Appeared in 28 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Pitching

Games – 28

Games Started – 28

Complete Games – 10 [1]

Wins – 19 [1]

Losses – 2

PCT - .905 [1]

Saves – 0

Shutouts – 3 [1, tied with Hideo Nomo]

Innings Pitched – 209.2 [1, tied with Denny Neagle]

Hits – 147

Runs – 39

Earned Runs – 38

Home Runs – 8

Bases on Balls – 23

Strikeouts – 181 [3]

ERA – 1.63 [1]

Hit Batters – 4

Balks – 0

Wild Pitches – 1

League-leading complete games were +3 ahead of runner-up Mark Leiter

League-leading wins were +1 ahead of runner-up Pete Schourek

League-leading win pct was +.185 ahead of runner-up Pete Schourek

League-leading ERA was -0.91 lower than runner-up Hideo Nomo

Midseason Snapshot: 8-1, ERA - 1.64, SO - 86 in 104.1 IP

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Most strikeouts, game – 11 (in 9 IP) at Philadelphia 7/1

10+ strikeout games – 2

Fewest hits allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 1 (in 9 IP) at Houston 5/28

Batting

PA – 81, AB – 72, R – 8, H – 11, 2B – 2, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 0, BB – 3, SO – 22, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .153, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 6, SF – 0

Fielding

Chances – 71

Put Outs – 18

Assists – 53

Errors – 0

DP – 3

Pct. - 1.000

Postseason Pitching: G – 5 (NLDS vs. Colorado – 2 G, NLCS vs. Cincinnati – 1 G, World Series vs. Cleveland – 2 G)

GS – 5, CG – 1, Record – 3-1, PCT – .750, SV – 0, ShO – 0, IP – 38, H – 35, R – 14, ER – 12, HR – 4, BB – 7, SO – 19, ERA – 2.84, HB – 2, BLK – 0, WP – 1

Awards & Honors:

NL Cy Young Award: BBWAA

NL Pitcher of the Year: Sporting News

Gold Glove

All-Star

3^rd in NL MVP voting (249 points, 7 first place votes, 64% share)

NL Cy Young voting (Top 5):

Greg Maddux, Atl.: 140 points – 28 of 28 first place votes, 100% share

Pete Schourek, Cin.: 55 points – 39% share

Tom Glavine, Atl.: 30 points – 21% share

Hideo Nomo, LAD: 29 points – 21% share

Ramon Martinez, LAD: 8 points – 6% share

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Braves went 90-54 to finish first in the NL Eastern Division by 21 games over the New York Mets & Philadelphia Phillies. The pitching staff led the league in ERA (3.44), complete games (18), strikeouts (1087), and fewest hits allowed (1184). Falling five games behind the division-leading Phillies in June, the Braves put together a 20-7 July that started with a 9-game winning streak and ended with the club in first place by 8.5 games. They coasted to the NL East title. Won NLDS over the Colorado Rockies, 3 games to 1. Won NLCS over the Cincinnati Reds, 4 games to 0. Won World Series over the Cleveland Indians, 4 games to 2.

Aftermath of 1995:

The cerebral pitcher known as “the Professor” remained with the Braves through 2003, continuing to be one of the National League’s best pitchers throughout his tenure. In 2004 he returned to the Cubs as a free agent and was 16-11 with a 4.02 ERA. He had a losing 13-15 record in 2005 and was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers during the 2006 season. He signed with San Diego in 2007, and after posting a 14-11 record at age 41, Maddux was 6-9 in 2008 when he was dealt back to the Dodgers in August, where he finished out his career. Overall, Maddux compiled a 355-227 major league record with a 3.16 ERA and 3371 strikeouts over 5008.1 innings pitched. He also hurled 109 complete games that included 35 shutouts. With the Braves he was 194-88 with a 2.63 ERA and 1828 strikeouts. In 35 postseason games, his record was 11-14 with a 3.27 ERA and 125 strikeouts over 198 innings. In addition to winning four Cy Young Awards, Maddux was an eight-time All-Star and 18-time Gold Glove recipient. The Cubs retired his #31 as did the Braves. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014. Maddux was also inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame in 2009. His brother Mike pitched for nine major league teams over 15 years.

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Cy Young Profiles feature pitchers who were recipients of the Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1956 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1966 and from 1967 on to one recipient from each major league.